Members of Illinois' Democratic-led 99th General Assembly have been sworn into office as the state enters its first divided government in more than a decade.
The 118 members of the Illinois House were sworn in at noon Wednesday at the University of Illinois Springfield with Secretary of State Jesse White presiding. Southern Illinois' newest State Representative is excited and ready for her first legislative session. Murphysboro Republican Terri Bryant says she knows there will be some difficult decisions to make: "In the past, the 115 th district has kind of been pushed aside. We had a lot of closures under Gov. Quinn. I'm hoping that the legislature and the governor can work together to make sure that we make the necessary cuts to non-essential spending, but that we're able to restore some of what's been taken from the 115 th district."
Bryant is referring to the shuttering of the Super Max prison in Tamms along with the Illinois Youth Center in Murphysboro and a parolee transition program in Carbondale. Bryant was elected to the post previously held by Mike Bost when he successfully ran for Congress.
The ceremony for the 19 new members of the 59-member Senate took place simultaneously at Capitol chambers with new Repblican Gov. Bruce Rauner presiding. Rauner was sworn in Monday. Democrats maintain strong majorities in both chambers. Senate Democrats lost one seat in the Senate during the November election, reducing their veto-proof super-majority to 39 members. House Democrats' will keep a 71-member super-majority in the new session. Lawmakers were to choose their chamber leaders following the swearing-in ceremonies.
